The present invention relates, in general, to a clock and, more particularly, to a clock having a face on which decorative features can be selectively placed and/or moved to create an overall changeable design.
Clocks having changeable faces are readily available. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,102 (Schiavolini) discloses a clock having magnetic ornamental indicators to designate the hour positions on same. In this case, the magnetic indicators are not of the decorative type, and thus, a decorative clock face cannot be readily formed therefrom. U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,512 (Takano, et. al.) discloses a decorative cover sheet for a clock. By folding the cover sheet along fold lines, the entire clock casing can be covered. A continuity of the design on the cover sheet is provided for the dial portion of the clock. In order to change the design of the clock face, the entire cover sheet has to be changed, and thus, individual portions of the design cannot be readily changed. A clock having an interchangeable face is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,664 (Huffman, et. al.). Here again, the entire clock face must be changed in order to change the overall appearance of the clock, and individual portions of the clock face cannot be changed.
In view of the foregoing, it has become desirable to develop a decorative clock having a clock face that permits decorative features to be selectively placed and/or moved relative to one another thereon to create an overall design that can be readily changed.
The present invention solves the problems associated with the prior art decorative clocks, and other problems, by providing a clock having a base plate that may be curved so as to permit the resulting clock structure to be self-supporting in an upright position. Alternatively, the clock could be readily hung on a wall. The clock includes a battery operated clock mechanism attached to the rear surface of the base plate. The hour hand, minute hand and second hand of the clock mechanism are positioned adjacent the front surface of the base plate. Decorative designs which may be in the form of a sheet containing a plurality of individual flexible permanent magnets, each having an artistic design or feature thereon, is provided. The individual flexible permanent magnets can be separated from one another and magnetically attached to the front surface of the base plate so as to create an overall design. Since a plurality of individual permanent magnets are provided, the number of overall designs that can be created by the selective placement of the individual permanent magnets on the base plate is virtually limitless. In addition, the individual permanent magnets can be readily changed and/or moved relative to one another so as to readily change the overall design on the base plate.